Judge in Peyer’s Retrial Removes Juror, Alternate Takes His Place

A juror in Craig Peyer’s murder trial who reportedly told a co-worker he thought Peyer is innocent of killing Cara Knott was removed from the panel Monday by Superior Court Judge Richard Huffman.

Huffman’s replacement of Mark Kirkendall with an alternate juror in the case came immediately after a state appellate court decided there was “substantial evidence” supporting the move. The 4th District Court of Appeal entered the fray last week when Peyer’s attorneys challenged Huffman’s decision, which was made during a closed session and not disclosed until Monday.

Neither attorney in the case would discuss what prompted the removal of Kirkendall. Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Pfingst said only that the court’s action was triggered by “information that caused us to question whether Mr. Kirkendall would be an appropriate juror in this case.”

But other sources confirmed that the concern centered on a conversation Kirkendall allegedly had with a fellow employee at the county’s Department of Revenue and Recovery, where he is an account clerk.

‘A Fair Decision’

During that conversation, Kirkendall reportedly told the woman colleague that he believed Peyer, a former CHP officer, is innocent in the strangulation death of Knott, a San Diego State University student whose body was found in a ravine Dec. 27, 1986. The woman shared details of that conversation during a May 27 hearing that was closed to the press and public and marked by extraordinary secrecy.

Reached at his Clairmont home late Monday, Kirkendall, 47, would say only that he thought Huffman “made a fair decision” in excusing him. But, in an interview with KCST-TV, Kirkendall denied he had made up his mind about a verdict.

“Before this trial started, there were quite a few people that . . . felt that Peyer should be executed for what happened,” Kirkendall told the television station. “I told them I would stand up and say, ‘Really, you should wait for the jury to make the decision and they’re the only ones who are going to have the information that they will need to make a decision.’ The jury hasn’t decided yet. He’s innocent until proven guilty.”

Neither Kirkendall nor the remaining 11 jurors and four alternates were in the courtroom when Huffman excused Kirkendall and announced that Raymond Thomas would take his place as an official member of the panel.

When the jurors returned, Huffman told them in his no-nonsense manner that the reasons behind Kirkendall’s replacement “are frankly not of your concern” and “are not to be speculated upon by you.” Several of the jurors--particularly Thomas--looked surprised and befuddled by the change.

In a separate decision Monday, the 4th District Court of Appeal denied two other defense petitions regarding evidence in the case.

One challenged Huffman’s exclusion of key defense testimony from witnesses who said in Peyer’s first trial that they saw a hitchhiker lunging at cars near an Interstate 15 off-ramp Knott likely used before disappearing while en route home.

The second petition was ordered sealed. But sources said it concerns unspecified defense efforts to impeach prosecution witness Traci Koenig, who testified that she saw a CHP car pull over a light-colored Volkswagen resembling Knott’s the night Knott was killed.

The brief decision, signed by Acting Presiding Justice Howard Wiener and endorsed by Justices Patricia Benke and Don R. Work, concluded that evidentiary matters are best left to the “sound discretion of the trial court.”

Defense attorney Robert Grimes said he would not seek any further appellate review of the issues.

Peyer, 38, is accused of stopping Knott at the Mercy Road exit on Interstate 15, strangling her and throwing her body from an abandoned highway bridge near the off-ramp. Knott’s body was found Dec. 28, 1986, in a dry creek bed 65 feet below the old U.S. 395 bridge. Her Volkswagen Beetle was parked nearby with the keys in the ignition and the driver’s window partially rolled down.

In February, jurors in Peyer’s first trial deadlocked 7 to 5 in favor of conviction. A 13-year veteran with the CHP until he was fired last year, Peyer has been free on bail since March, 1987.

On Monday, the prosecution rested its case after calling 122 witnesses during 12 days of testimony. The district attorney’s case was handled by a new prosecutor--Pfingst--and featured several new witnesses, including Koenig and her husband Scott, who also testified about seeing the traffic stop.

Pfingst wrapped up his case with a fingerprint comparison expert, who testified that three of nine readable sets of fingerprints lifted from Knott’s Volkswagen the day after her body was found belonged to the victim. Ralph Bukowski, a forensic scientist with the San Diego Police Department, testified that the remaining prints have not been identified. Peyer’s fingerprints were not found on the vehicle.

Police Sgt. Gene Back testified that he discovered faint, fresh skid marks about 10 feet in length on the old U.S. 395 bridge the morning Knott’s body was discovered. Back said he measured the width between the tire marks and that they were 53 inches apart--the same width between marks that a CHP cruiser would leave. He said no other police cars or investigation vehicles could have made marks of that width.

Late in the day, the defense opened its case, presenting five witnesses in rapid-fire sequence. The first four were motorists stopped by Peyer during 1986 and represented defense efforts to counter prosecution arguments that the patrolman singled out young attractive women and forced them to drive down the darkened Mercy Road off-ramp for traffic stops.

Two men testified that Peyer directed them about halfway down the Mercy Road exit before giving them tickets; one said his conversation with the officer lasted 45 minutes and covered personal issues similar to things female prosecution witnesses said Peyer discussed with them.

A third witness, Ronald Laffranchi, said Peyer climbed in his pickup truck during a traffic stop to explain what infraction the motorist had committed. Under cross-examination, Laffranchi said the stop lasted 10 minutes and did not include talk of his personal life.

Kimberly Walther testified that she voluntarily pulled onto an I-15 off-ramp when she saw Peyer’s lights ablaze behind her car. She said Peyer was pleasant during her 10-minute stop and that she pulled off so she wouldn’t pose a traffic hazard.